I talked just two days ago that the tropics were poised to become active quickly, and we now have two tropical storms–Ana and Bill–but it’s the yet-to-form Tropical Storm Claudette that poses the most immediate threat to the United States.
National Hurricane Center Satellite Image from 8 p.m. August 15, 2009
In the earlier post (As Easy as A (Ana), B (Bill), and C (Claudette)), I mentioned that a tropical wave moving westward would need to be monitored once it arrived in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s there now–indicated by the 1 on the above map–and the National Hurricane Center is, indeed, monitoring it for potential development.
It’s listed as having less than a 30% chance of development during the next 48 hours by the NHC, so Claudette may not materialize out of the tropical wave; however, the Gulf water is plenty warm. If an organized low pressure system were to develop, a tropical storm or hurricane would develop quickly–and become an immediate threat.
–Paul Yeager
